politics

Rise Again: Nova Scotia's NDP on the Rocks

by Howard Epstein

(Empty Mirrors Press,

2015;

$24.95)

In Rise Again, author and former MLA for Halifax Chebucto Howard Epstein gives us his explanation, in irrepressible detail, of why the Nova Scotia NDP fell from power in 2013 after only one term in office.

Epstein believes the NDP won the election that brought it to power in 2009 because Nova Scotians were ready for a social democratic government and an end to the cozy relationship between government and business that had characterized Nova Scotian politics for too long.

Based on the NDP's proposals for legislation while in opposition, Nova Scotians believed this progressive change is what they were going to get.

Don't

Guantanamo Diary

by Mohamedou Ould Slahi

(Little, Brown and Company,

2015;

$32.00)

Following December's release of the U.S. Senate report on American complicity in torture, Prime Minister Stephen Harper quickly declared, "It has nothing to do whatsoever with the government of Canada." Despite the CIA's close relationship with Canadian state security agencies, as well as two judicial inquiries finding Ottawa complicit in the torture of Canadian citizens in Syria and Egypt, Harper preferred to ignore the facts.

Don't

Heavy Radicals: The FBI's Secret War on America's Maoists

by Aaron J. Leonard and Conor A. Gallagher

(Zero Books,

2015;

$29.95)

According to writers Aaron J. Leonard and Conor A. Gallagher, The Revolutionary Union (RU) and its later incarnation, the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), were products of 1960s left-wing radicalism.

"Leaders emerged from the anti-HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee)protests, the Free Speech Movement, the Peace and Freedom Party alliance with the Black Panthers, and the struggles in the final years of SDS, among other key events of the time," they write.

Harper vs. Canada: Five Ways of Looking at the Conservative Regime

It's hard to believe that the Harper government has been in power since 2006. Then again, maybe it's not.

Since Harper and his Conservatives came to Parliament, budgets have been slashed, civil liberties have been threatened and eroded, environments have been destroyed and public services have been gutted.

Don't

Harperism: How Stephen Harper and his think tank colleagues have transformed Canada

by Donald Gutstein

(Lorimer,

2014;

$22.95)

Does it ever feel like you've just woken up and found yourself living in a country you don't recognize? How did Canada get to where it is today -- a more militaristic, nationalistic, free-market-at-all-costs place that seems to have shed its world-renowned reputation as a land of peacekeepers, multiculturalism, social responsibility and scientific advancement?

Don't

The War on Drugs: A Failed Experiment

by Paula Mallea

(Dundurn Press,

2014;

$22.99)

The phrase the "War on Drugs" was coined by Richard Nixon during his campaign to eradicate illegal drug use and subsequently picked up by media, politicians and those allies who wanted to 'crack down' on drug offences.

Mallea approaches the conversation on drugs from a variety of angles, offering insight into the history of drug use and abuse and the economy of the drug trade. But perhaps most importantly, Mallea discusses why this failed experiment of the War of Drugs was such a failure.

Don't

Noble Illusions: Young Canada Goes to War

by Stephen Dale

(Fernwood Publishing,

2014;

$18.95)

A tidal wave of First World War centenary celebrations -- set to unfold over the next four years -- is now upon us. Canada, like other nations, will spend many millions of dollars commemorating Canadians' participation in the war that was supposed to "end all wars."

But what will these events tell us about the meaning of that cataclysmic war and its lessons for today's world? We can probably guess the answer from statements that key figures have already made.

Don't

Tragedy in the Commons: Former Members of Parliament Speak Out About Canada's Failing Democracy

by Alison Loat, Michael MacMillan

(Random House Canada,

2014;

$29.95)

I'm not sure what's worse for democracy -- the truth, or fictional representations of the political world.

On the one hand, we've got shows like "House of Cards" that make politics look like the playground of the most manipulative, selfish and conniving people in our society, and on the other hand, we have constant real life scandals swirling around our elected (and non-elected) representatives.

Somewhere in the midst of all this, there are those who believe we can't give up on our democratic institutions.

Don't

Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story

by Robyn Doolittle

(Penguin Canada,

2014;

$29.95)

Imagine the following scenario:

I am the principal of a school. I use illegal hard drugs that I get from the drug dealers I spend a lot of time with (and even hire sometimes to do work for me and who get paid for this out of the school budget). I also have ties to dangerous street gangs that smuggle guns and drugs into my city, contributing to the city's crime problems.

I have been drunk on the job. I have not shown up for important events and meetings and I have also shown up intoxicated to other important events. I am under investigation by the police, but I refuse to cooperate with them and think the police are at fault for investigating me in the first place.